To kick off the new year I thought I’d post internet videos that were influential to me (and others) last year. Not all these videos were published in 2011 but that’s when I first watched them. Here they are.

Early last year Republicans proposed legislation that would eliminate abortion funding for rape victims. Jon Stewart made them look pretty foolish on The Daily Show. Wordpress won’t let me embed this video, so click the link below to watch it. You’ll be redirected to The Daily Show website.

ABC has a showed called What Would You Do? This is the first episode I saw which depicts a lesbian couple with their daughter being confronted by their waiter.

Here’s a video by Linda Stay. She relates how she learned her son Tyler is gay and what that experience was like from a Mormon perspective. She goes into more depth on these experiences in the documentary 8: The Mormon Proposition.

Emily Pearson also appeared in 8: The Mormon Proposition. In this video she relates experiences with gay men she was close to and her journey out of the LDS Church.

And of course, no blog authored by a gay man would be complete without a tribute to Lady GaGa. Here are my top videos by the Lord herself. To start, here’s a video by Jonah Mowry that captured Her (capital H-E-R) attention.

Lady GaGa responded to teen suicide possibly more than any other celebrity. She brought these suicides to the attention of officials in the White House. Although she is written off too frequently because of her eccentricity, she’s doing some pretty cool things for LGBTQ youth. Here’s her tribute to Jamey Rodemeyer who committed suicide in 2011.

Here’s a story by ABC about GaGa’s efforts to stop bullying.

Finally, here’s a parody of Lady GaGa’s Edge of Glory reminds me of our commitment ceremony. This was created around the time New York passed gay marriage.

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It’s a new year. 2011 is over and 2012 begins. It’s been a pretty intense year. Dan and I had our commitment ceremony. All my siblings got married. I proposed my master’s thesis. We adopted cats and one died. I came out to my siblings. Misha (our cat) got herpes. I came out to my extended family. It will be interested to see what 2012 brings.

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Today — Christmas Eve — marks our 6-month anniversary. There’s no better way to spend the day than sitting next to Dan (something our busy schedules don’t allow for during the semester), playing games on our phones, and spending time with his mom and her family.

It’s crazy to think that 6 months ago my life changed for the better: I took Dan by the hand and promised to spend the rest of my life with him, through sickness and health. It was a special day. I’ll never forget the excitement and the nerves.

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We’ve been through a lot over the last 6 months and we’ve grown clo. One of the defining experiences of the last 6 months was probably when our kitten Luna died; I was exposed to Dan’s finest qualities of kindness and compassion. Watching him care for our kitten helped me realize I have nothing to worry about. Our future is safe and secure.

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There’s no better way to get into the holiday season than listening to these singing Christmas hedgehogs. You may have to open the video in YouTube to get it to work (the hedgehogs should be clickable).

The holiday season can be pretty stressful, especially when you’re the gay member of a religious family and especially when one of your siblings is getting married a few days before Christmas and the other a few days after. This is the position we’re in. My family is attempting to combine one stressful situation (having a gay son/brother) with three stressful events — Christmas and two weddings. Add to the stress the fact that me and all my siblings got married this year so our family is entirely new to planning the holidays around in-laws’ schedules.

From the perspective of a gay member of the family, I don’t look forward to peoples’ reactions when they learn, if they haven’t heard already, that I’m married to a man. I dread conversations like these:

I don’t have too much reason to suspect anyone in my family will follow her instructions, but bitter conversations over Facebook suggests the possibility I might be met with hostility of the passive-aggressive type. Fortunately, I have potential allies in the family as well (e.g., a cousin who “likes” Facebook posts about gay issues); I’m hopeful it won’t be too painful if I show up to my dad’s family’s Christmas party. And even more fortunate than that, I haven’t had to worry at all with my mom’s family. One aunt and her daughter — my cousin (and friend) — extended a warm invitation to Thanksgiving suspecting Dan and I might feel uncomfortable attending.

Perhaps the most stressful part of it all is the disregard Dan experiences. My dad doesn’t acknowledge his presence at family outings. He has also suggested that Dan should be introduced at Christmas and the weddings as “a family friend” or roommate. (I have a hard time believing there are people out there who don’t know I’m gay and don’t know Dan and I are partnered, but that’s always a possibility I guess). And I don’t blame my dad for being nervous about how people will respond; people can be mean and it’s scary to consider all the potential reactions people might have. I’m nervous about peoples’ reactions too, but I’ve had more opportunities to experience those reactions and awkward moments than has my dad.

Despite all the potential stress, frustration, and awkwardness this holiday season might bring, I’m looking forward to having my first Christmas with Dan. The holidays for these two gays are going to rock.

You can’t tell me this isn’t something to be grateful for. Zion National Park is one of my favorite places on earth. And I get to spend it awesome people like Dan, his mom, and her husband. They’ve always been kind and welcoming and incredibly accepting.